第2259a期:US Farmers Use Tree from India to Produce Proteins, Biofuel

American farmers are using an ancient tree from India to produce beans for making protein-rich foods and biofuels.
美国农民正在使用一种来自印度的古老树木来生产用于制作富含蛋白质的食品和生物燃料的豆类。

The tree is called pongamia. It is native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia. But farmers in the southern state of Florida have found the tree grows well there too.
这种树叫做水黄皮。它原产于印度、东南亚和澳大利亚。但是佛罗里达州南部的农民发现这种树在他们那里也生长得很好。

In some parts of Florida, pongamia trees have now replaced citrus trees, which have long faced major struggles with disease.
在佛罗里达州的某些地区，水黄皮树现在已经取代了长期面临重大疾病困扰的柑橘树。

Pongamia trees produce a small brown bean known as a legume. The legume can be used in the production of several products, including cooking oil and protein-rich foods. The beans can also be used to produce a biofuel, mostly for airplanes.
水黄皮树产生一种被称为豆类的小棕色豆荚。这种豆类可以用于生产多种产品，包括食用油和富含蛋白质的食品。这些豆子还可以用来生产生物燃料，主要用于飞机。

Pongamia do well in Florida because the trees like hot temperatures and can survive in dry or rainy conditions. They also do not require special additives, called fertilizers, or chemicals to kill insects and other life that might threaten growth.
水黄皮在佛罗里达生长良好，因为这种树喜欢高温并且能在干燥或潮湿的条件下存活。它们也不需要被称为肥料的特殊添加剂，也不需要用化学品杀死昆虫和其他可能威胁生长的生物。

And unlike fruits like oranges and grapefruit, the beans do not require teams of workers to pick. Instead, they can be easily collected with a machine that shakes the trees and makes the legumes fall to the ground.
与橙子和葡萄柚等水果不同，这些豆子不需要工人团队来采摘。相反，它们可以通过一台摇动树木使豆荚掉到地上的机器轻松收集。

A San Francisco-based company, called Terviva, has invented a process that removes substances from the bean that gives it a bad taste so it can be used for food production.
一家位于旧金山的公司Terviva发明了一种去除豆子中导致其味道不佳的物质的工艺，使其可以用于食品生产。

The company’s founder, Naveen Sikka, told The Associated Press that Terviva has been able to offer Florida farmers a new chance to replace their failed citrus crops. Pongamia, he said, “is the perfect fit” to help them rebuild their businesses.
该公司的创始人纳文·西卡告诉美联社，Terviva能够为佛罗里达州的农民提供一个替代失败的柑橘作物的新机会。他说，水黄皮“是帮助他们重建业务的完美选择”。

Ron Edwards is the chairman of Terviva's board of directors. He is also a long-time Florida citrus grower. He told the AP that turning this wild tree into an agricultural success story was not easy. “There are no books to read on it, either, because no one else has ever done it,” Edwards said.
罗恩·爱德华兹是Terviva董事会主席。他也是一位长期的佛罗里达柑橘种植者。他告诉美联社，将这种野生树木变成农业成功的故事并不容易。“没有书可读，因为没有其他人做过这件事，”爱德华兹说。

In addition, he said bees and other pollinators that feed on the tree’s flowers help support the local environment.
此外，他说，以这种树的花为食的蜜蜂和其他传粉者有助于支持当地环境。

Edwards added that an estimated one half hectare of the trees could provide the same amount of oil as about 1.6 hectares of soy beans. The pongamia bean also produces a high-quality protein that can be used to make many plant-based products. “There’s a lot of potential for the food industry and the oil and petroleum industry,” Edwards said.
爱德华兹补充说，据估计，半公顷的这种树可以提供相当于大约1.6公顷大豆的油量。水黄皮豆还可以产生高质量的蛋白质，可用于制作许多植物性产品。“食品工业和油品工业有很大的潜力，”爱德华兹说。

Experts say the problems linked to Florida’s citrus crops – disease and climate issues – have also affected most of the world’s top citrus-producing nations.
专家们说，佛罗里达州柑橘作物面临的问题——疾病和气候问题——也影响了世界上大多数主要的柑橘生产国。

For example, this year's harvest in Brazil – the world’s largest exporter of orange juice – is expected to be the worst in 36 years. The Brazilian citrus group Fundecitrus made that prediction after a period of major flooding and then extended dryness.
例如，今年巴西——世界最大的橙汁出口国的——收成预计将是36年来最糟糕的。巴西柑橘集团Fundecitrus在一段时间的重大洪水和随后长期干旱之后做出了这一预测。

But Edwards noted that climate and disease have little effect on pongamia trees. “It’s just tough, a jungle-tested tree” he said. “It stands up to a lot of abuse with very little caretaking."
但爱德华兹指出，气候和疾病对水黄皮树的影响很小。“它很坚韧，是经过丛林考验的树，”他说。“它在很少照顾的情况下经受住了很多考验。”

Pongamia also grows well in Hawaii, where it is now being used on land where sugarcane once grew.
水黄皮在夏威夷也生长良好，现在它被用于曾经种植甘蔗的土地上。

John Olson is a Florida farmer who replaced his grapefruit trees with 87 hectares of pongamia. He told the AP he felt he had little choice because, “For the most part, the citrus industry has died in Florida.” Olson said his grapefruit business was a profitable operation throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although the farm was not large.
约翰·奥尔森是一位佛罗里达农民，他用87公顷的水黄皮取代了他的葡萄柚树。他告诉美联社，他觉得他别无选择，因为“在很大程度上，佛罗里达的柑橘产业已经消亡。”奥尔森说，他的葡萄柚业务在20世纪80年代和90年代是一个有利可图的操作，尽管农场不大。

Edwards said he is happy that pongamia trees have replaced some citrus trees in Florida. And he said he likes that pongamia oil can replace some oils that are more environmentally damaging to produce.
爱德华兹说，他很高兴水黄皮树取代了佛罗里达的一些柑橘树。他说他喜欢水黄皮油可以替代一些生产对环境破坏更大的油。